Republican lawmakers are intensifying their efforts to uncover more information about surveillance of sitting members of Congress conducted under the Biden administration, demanding the release of all prior Justice Department and FBI communications records tied to former special counsel Jack Smith and the bureau’s “Arctic Frost” operation.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senate Homeland Security investigator Ron Johnson (R-WI) led a letter Friday signed by 16 other GOP colleagues seeking internal records about how FBI agents secretly obtained tolling data from the personal phones of nine Republican lawmakers, including eight senators. The lawmakers are also asking the DOJ to petition the federal judiciary for permission to release records currently shielded by federal grand jury secrecy rules.
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“Given that these materials relate to an unprecedented collection of records and information on sitting members of Congress and raise serious constitutional concerns, Congress’ need for these records clearly outweighs any interest in secrecy,” the lawmakers wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.
The Arctic Frost investigation began in April 2022 under then-FBI agent Timothy Thibault, during then-Director Chris Wray’s tenure, and was transferred to Smith’s office in November 2022. Grassley and Johnson have said the operation eventually evolved into Smith’s Jan. 6 prosecution against President Donald Trump following his 2020 election defeat to former President Joe Biden, raising questions about the possible blending of political and prosecutorial motives within the department.
Earlier this week, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino disclosed that by September 2023, the bureau’s Washington Field Office possessed call logs from nine Republican lawmakers for the period surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Those records, obtained via secret subpoenas, included tolling data for senators such as Josh Hawley (R-MO), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Johnson.
The scope of Arctic Frost went beyond targeting Trump and Republican lawmakers. The operation also placed at least 92 Republican-aligned individuals and organizations under federal scrutiny, according to a 2023 FBI form outlining details about internal bank subpoena logs the FBI sought under the Biden administration. Among them were Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association, the Conservative Partnership Institute, the America First Policy Institute, and many more.
Grassley and Johnson, who first made the public aware of the Arctic Frost investigation in January, have accused the Biden administration of weaponizing federal law enforcement against political opponents, but they said the Senate Judiciary Committee will not hold public hearings on Arctic Frost or Smith’s work until the DOJ produces the requested documents.
“The FBI told us many of the records associated with this matter are hidden behind grand jury secrecy rules,” Grassley said Thursday. “Attorney General Bondi must take immediate steps to seek a waiver and produce records to the committee.”
Republicans who signed the letter but were not subjected to the surveillance effort include Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT), among others, who say the episode represents a “uniquely exceptional circumstance” that demands full transparency about the FBI’s coordination with the Biden White House.
GRASSLEY: NO JACK SMITH, ARCTIC FROST HEARINGS UNTIL DOJ HANDS OVER MORE RECORDS
In June 2023, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, responding to reporters, rejected accusations that the Trump prosecutions under Smith were politically driven. He said that he appointed Smith precisely to reinforce the Justice Department’s commitment to independence and accountability. However, the House Judiciary Committee in August that year alleged that Jay Bratt, a senior aide in Smith’s office, had met with the Biden White House counsel’s office “multiple times” prior to Trump’s indictments.
Smith, who resigned as special counsel after Trump won the 2024 election, issued a 146-page report defending his dual prosecutions of Trump related to classified documents and the 2020 election, both of which collapsed in court ahead of the November election. The Office of Special Counsel has opened an investigation into allegations of illegal political activity, including possible Hatch Act violations, regarding Smith’s conduct.